Eat Your Heart Out
by FalsettoSlumber
Summary: In which a demi-god goes back to his childhood, and is shown a Midgardian toy that he recognises. Fluff!fic written for White Rose of Wutai, M/M (ThorxStark) if you look close enough.


Thor was sat warily in the spinning office chair of Tony Stark's office, the slight motion of the chair causing him to start, alighting from it with a battle cry, and the beginnings of a war stance in his posture, as Stark walked in, a half empty coffee mug in one hand, a crumpled plastic bag held tightly in his other.

"It's just a chair, oh, Mighty Son of God. It won't bite you." He drawled in Thor's direction, placing the coffee mug down on the side as he rolled his eyes. Thor relaxed slightly, though he kept a firm gaze on the chair, obviously readying himself for if it decided to attack when he wasn't paying attention. Stark threw himself down in the opposing chair, purposefully skidding himself across the room to come to a halt in from of the demi-god, one eyebrow raised.

"See? Perfectly safe!" He laughed, as he threw himself back to his previous position on the other side of the desk, wheels screeching on the cool metallic floor. Thor eyed the chair once more, a frown creasing his eyebrows together, before shrugging his metal clad shoulders, and moving to sit on a more sturdy wheel-less chair.

"What is in that bag?" He asked warily, eyeing the Midgardian plastic with a pretentious air, thinking longingly of the earth-worn materials of home; the fires of the gods could wrought metals that these humans could only dream of…

"Agh!" A sharp yell from Stark pulled Thor from his reminiscing, and he grinned as he took in the sight of the shorter man; coffee was pooling in his lap, causing the engineer to yelp in pain as the hot liquid seeped through the material of his weak cloth pants. He looked up at Thor laughing, and glared, throwing the empty mug at him with a weakness not normally seen when the man was suited up.

It fell far of its target, landing for a moment on the floor before shattering, ceramic pot scattering everywhere.

"Oh, now look what you made me do! Why are you even here anyway?" The so-called genius scrambled to pick up the broken cup before it made its way into his precious machines whilst Thor simply stood watching, preferring to be an observer to the man's plight, rather than a help.

"Young Hawkeye sent me. Apparently my tinkering at his arrows was beginning to gripe. Informed me that if I did not come down here to learn a little more of your simple technology, he would have me… how did he put it? Ah, yes, he would have me fired back to Asgard in a rocket faster than I could bang you with my hammer." Stark spluttered on the floor, ceramic shards dropping from his hands, back onto the office floor.

"Well you aren't of much use to me, sorry. What exactly was it he wanted you to learn about?" Stark attempted to sound angry with the demi-god, but he just ended up sounding sarcastic. Thor frowned, scratching his temple thoughtfully.

"He did not specify." Stark groaned, pulling himself up to his not-that-high full height. He glanced around the office, looking for some form of trinket - anything - to keep the man out of his hair for a while longer. Finally, his gaze fell on the plastic bag.

"Okay, you wanted to know what was in my bag of tricks, huh?" He motioned to the plastic bag, and Thor nodded, his eyes lighting up to make him look strangely child-like. Stark seized it from the side counter, opening the green plastic to reveal something soft and oddly furry inside.

"This is… well. It's not really technology. It's just a toy." He handed a pale blue teddy bear to Thor, who took in his hands, a look of bemusement written onto his features.

"And what is its purpose?" The blond shook the bear, holding it upside down by one leg. It made a squeaking noise as it was shaken, and Stark rolled his eyes.

"They're what we give to children, normally. I mean, this one was technically for a girl, but I'll get her some chocolates or something instead-" He paused as Thor finally managed to hold the bear upright, and a laugh of purely childlike glee escaped his mouth.

"This looks like a beast of Asgard! The snarling grin; the blackened, dead eyes! The soft fur, designed to encourage people to touch it, upon which time it strikes, taking the innocent, but stupid, as prey! But this is wonderful!" Stark sighed, watching the fully grown man playing gleefully with the stuffed bear. He spun it in a circle above his head, hands grasping tightly to the bear's paws. A giggle ripped from his throat, and Stark barely managed to suppress a snort of derision.

"It's only a child's toy, holiness. It's not gonna rip your face off any time soon." He rolled his eyes at the blond, but Thor ignored him, choosing instead to cuddle the bear to his chest, a look of innocent longing written into his features.

"Back on Asgard, these animals serve the demi-gods and gods… they are domesticated to be raised as pets. I… used to have one when I was a youngster. I don't suppose…" He trailed off, looking suddenly quite uncomfortable, as if realising that he was a grown man fawning over a stuffed bear. Stark felt the corners of his mouth pull up reluctantly, and he drew a hand through his short hair.

"Yeah, sure. Eat your heart out." Thor's face lit up, cradling the bear against his chest, the pale blue looking comical against the blacks of his chest panels. Then, a frown once more drew across his face.

"What?" Stark motioned with his hands to hurry Thor up, eager to try once more at hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D's systems.

"How would one… eat one's heart?"


End file.
